A story of a 37 year old woman named Alex, working through the trials of infertility, and now raising a little Alex...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Heartbeat!

We have a heartbeat! I went in this morning - jury duty ended earlier than planned - and saw my little baby’s heartbeat. I’m at 6 weeks, 3 days today, and the embryo measured right on target, and the heartbeat was 121 beats per minute, which is on target based on how far along I am. The blood work looked good too – the progesterone in oil increased my progesterone to over 20, so that’s good.

That was the good news – here is the bad: I have a subchorionic hematoma. Right alongside the gestational sac is this long black area, and the nurse said that is blood. She said it is very common, especially in IVF patients, and it may cause some spotting, but shouldn’t cause any problems. I looked online, and saw that it increases miscarriage rate by up to 5%. The nurse said I’m supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible, other than working, don’t exercise, no sex (although I’m still on the pelvic rest from the IVF procedure), drink lots of fluids, and perhaps expect spotting. Sometimes it resolves on its own, and sometimes it doesn’t.

I’m trying to not be too concerned, as I have heard of this happening in the blog world, but what does it mean? Am I going to be on these restrictions for a long time, like the whole pregnancy? I’ve been taking Lovenox for the MTHFR, and I noticed that sometimes doctors prescribe Lovenox to break up the clot of the hematoma, but I’m already taking it. I need to spend some time Googling to try to understand it a little, but again, I’m trying to not freak out too much, so I’ve generally been trying to stay away from the internet.

Yet another thing to worry about – I have a feeling this pregnancy will not be easy. But as long as I get to the end of it with a healthy baby, I can live through hell for the next 7 ½ months. We met a big milestone today – a heartbeat. I have another ultrasound next Thursday, so hopefully that one will go well too. The next few weeks are going to be hard. I feel like I’m on a familiar path – made it through the heartbeat, now I wait for the next step. Last pregnancy, the heart stopped beating at around 8 weeks, and I had an ultrasound at 8 ½ weeks when we discovered it. I keep telling myself that this is a different pregnancy, and it doesn’t have to be the same result. I’m taking aspirin, Folgard and Lovenox that I didn’t have before. This is a new pregnancy, and I really hope I get a baby out of it. I also hope this hematoma thing doesn’t turn into anything big. I guess I’m just hoping – a lot!

47 comments:

Yes, this is a different pregnancy. My fingers are crossed that it is going to result in your healthy take-home baby.I have nothing to offer on the hematoma but suspect lots of others will.Congratulations!!!!

I'm sorry about the hematoma, I don't know much about them other than I've heard of other bloggers having them during pregnancy and they resolved on their own. I'm hoping that that's the case for you. it just sucks that there is always something extra for you to worry about, you don't need this extra stress. :-( i'm so sorry you have to deal w/ this stress.

Yay! Super exciting about the heartbeat. The hematoma definitely sounds worrisome, but 5% isn't a very high percentage. I hope you can focus on the 95% chance of a take-home baby. But spotting is terrifying, so I hope you don't get that!

As far as I know, you'll just be on those restrictions until the SCH resolves itself. They often happen after implantation and take care of themselves. It's good news though that they found it because *if* it causes spotting, you know why it's happening.

Yay for the HB!! SCHs are different for everyone; some require extensive bedrest, others resolve quickly. My SIL was on bedrest for the first 3 months of pregnancy with hers, but then it resolved and the remaining months, until she delivered at 32w, were fine.

Oh, wow, how horribly nerve-wracking :( I have a friend who is currently 18 weeks pregnant, and when she was 6weeks her SH covered the baby on the ultrasound and they couldn't find a sac, a heartbeat, a fetal pole, anything. She was devastated, but then they went back a week later and there was the little guy, just hanging out! Sometimes miracles happen :)

Alex, it's all worth hoping for and this is such good news. You are off to a strong start and all that matters is this time, no matter how hard it is to think about the last one. This is on the way! I'm allowed to be excited for you, so I'll keep cheering as well.

Hooray for the heartbeat! And I hope that hematoma just disappears without causing a bit of trouble. I wonder how often "normal" women have those and don't even know it because they aren't under heavy surveilance like we are. All the scans and tests can be reassuring but we also pick up on more things to worry us!

The hematoma - I don't know much about it, but I think you're handling this well. It probably is going to be a difficult pregnancy, and it's going to require a lot of strength for you to get through it, but we will be here for you to support you, every step of the way. :D

I'm reading backwards so just saw this!! Congratulations! What a wonderful thing to see the heartbeat of your little one. Keeping hope for you that the SCH goes away on its own and doesn't bring you too much anxiety. I suppose it's at least good to know that it's there so if you do spot some, you'll know what it's about.

Over the mooooonnn!! I am so excited to read this! It will be tough until you pass that 8 1/2 week mark, and it will probably be tough until you reach viability. Or at least it was for me. But it IS a different pregnancy and things WILL be okay! Allow yourself a minute or two a day to be scared/nervous/etc. of what might happen, but give yourself the rest of the day to enjoy the pregnancy. You are doing everything right.

I have the same thing, mine is just on my cervix.We found out about it on week 8 when it popped and I bled like crazy. We had an ultrasound and saw it. Since then I have had an ultrasound every two weeks and it has not gone away or decreased in size.I am on the same restrictions as you are.I have been trying not to Google or freak out, but I have my next ultrasound tomorrow and if it hasn't decreased quite a bit, I will be asking a million questions.I will let you know how it goes. But if it gives you any hope, I am past 13 weeks and everything has been fine and baby is actually growing ahead!Thinking of you!

Hallelujah for that heartbeat! From what I've heard, the hematoma thing isn't that big of a deal. And it's nice to know you have it before you see any spotting, so that if you do see spotting you don't have to freak out. And you're right that this is a new baby. There's no reason to think this pregnancy will do the same thing the last one did.

how exciting to hear the heartbeat!!! everytime I read about someone hearing their childs heartbeat, i get goosebumps...I can only imagine the surreal feeling....I am happy you have a reason for the spotting and that it's not 'serious'. It sounds like a benign thing that won't affect your lil one and that in 8 months, they will be coo'ing in your arms :)

Hi Alex...I am so happy you have a wonderful heartbeat and growth is right on track...You so deserve this:) If you remember I had several bleeds throughout my pregnancy...and the biggest one was behind my placenta...I was on Lovenox too but to be honest usually when there is a bleed the Dr. will take you off of the Lovenox for a few days then recheck to see if the bleed resolved itself..once it resolves then start back on the Lovenox...The reason they pull you off is because the bleed can actually get bigger when on Lovenox because of course Lovenox thins the blood and when you have an active bleed you want it to clot over to heal itself...Only way for it to clot over is to be off the Lovenox...so I would ask your Dr. about this because all 3 of my Dr.'s did this whenever I had a bleed...How big was the bleed? Ok sorry for so many question...Hugs to you!!!

That is wonderful news about the heartbeat! Keep on beating baby! Keep beating for the next 90+ years!

That sucks about the hematoma. I've seen a few bloggers with them as well, who, might I add, have all gone on to have their babies. Just take it as easy as you can. You WILL make it through a full term pregnancy!

First of all, congrats on hearing the heartbeat! That must have been a truly fantastic experience.

I did a quick literature search on sub-chorionic bleeds and found this article from last year: http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2010/08000/Ultrasound_Detected_Subchorionic_Hemorrhage_and.11.aspx

This is a good article and has also some links to good references. When I read this, here's what I think: looks like there may be greater risks for some things like preterm labor and placental abruption, but many of those even "Greater" risks are still quite small. Also, at our "advanced" age, we old-timers in the obstetrical world tend to have a little more risk for these things in the first place, and that may be a reflection of those every so slight increased odds. The good news is it does not place you at higher risk for more serious stuff like delayed growth of the fetus, pre-eclamspia, or premature ruptured membranes.

My cousin had a sch during her first trimester of a current pregnancy that resolved on its own, though she had nerve-wracking spotting that lasted through 10 weeks. From what I understand, the larger it is, the more risk it carries. She did experience a miscarriage in a previous pregnancy from a large bleed at 8 weeks, but the dr KNEW BY LOOKING at the hematoma that it was disrupting the sac and told her so. They are common, my mom also had one with my younger brother, and spotted through much of the first trimester as well. If your Dr says that it is small and looks fine, then that sounds like everything will be just fine and you won't have any problems. The spotting will be stressful, ugh! I'm sorry there was a tiny bit of worrisome news mixed with your good news. But a heartbeat! How wonderful, Alex! Things are going very well, hang in there! XOXo

Cograts to you--know how amazing it is to hear that news! I also know about the hematoma--very similar to you, they discovered mine at 5w6d, and it was very very scary for me--I know have a full-of-life 2 year old :) Glad to be a resource if you need it.

Howdy would you mind letting me know which web host you're using? I've loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a fair price? Cheers, I appreciate it!

About Me

I always wanted to be called Alex, and nobody listened to me. I dreamed of the day when I would have my own daughter to call my own, and I would call her Alex. My dream has come true...
Feel free to email me at adventuresofalex @ gmail . com

8/10 - Received diagnosis of compound heterozygous MTHFR mutation - one C677T and one A1298C mutation. Researching implications. Add Folgard 2.2 2x per day and baby aspirin - for the rest of my life...